Archive for the ‘Wonderphyll’ Category

How can we better understand the benefits of increased sustainability in the office furniture industry? I think part of the conversation has to include asking ourselves, What is the office furniture life cycle? One business, Envirotech Office Systems has provided a well designed, and helpful graphic to show the various stages in the life cycle of your office furniture. FlexForm Technologies Wonderphyll fire retardant substrate could be added to the office system at any stage in the process for increased overall sustainability over the existing fiberglass substrate. You can see the original graphic on Envirotech’s website here.

In their post, Envirotech Office Systems explains 7 steps in the life of office furniture as follows,

“7 Steps of Recycled Office Furniture Lifecycle

When office furniture is no longer needed or wanted, there are companies, such as Envirotech Office Systems, that can help. Call to discuss what options are available and what is right for your situation.

Unwanted furniture is removed from the customer’s facility

Product is inspected for usability and market value

Furniture that is to be sold ‘As-is’, receives minor cleaning

Refurbished furniture receives minor cleaning with additional cosmetic touches, and then sold

Remanufactured furniture is disassembled; usable parts repaired or replaced, reassembled, refinished, and then sold as ‘better than new’.

Parts and materials that that could not be reused in the remanufacturing process because they have come to the end of their lifecycle, are either sent to be recycled or sent to the landfill.

Customers choose to purchase recycled office furniture.“

FlexForm Technologies Wonderphyll fire retardant product would be a great addition to remanufacturing office furniture. Our material would replace the existing fiberglass and make the remanufactured product create a better environment for the worker by improving air quality.

KI—KI is a world class furniture manufacturer based in Green Bay, WI. They consistently win design awards for their products from educational seating to health care products. They have a long history of sustainable construction in their product lines. They were walking the green walk long before it became a popular marketing tool. “KI has been using recycled content in its furniture manufacturing process since the introduction of its first product in 1941.” As stated in a press release found here: http://www.ki.com/about/asseeninDetail.aspx?ar=465

FlexForm Technologies is proud to count KI among our customers. We are featured in the tackable option for their Genius Wall System. This innovative wall system can be seen in the picture below.

“In a report prepared for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), scientists warned that people with higher exposure to formaldehyde were more at risk for certain types of rare cancers, including in the upper part of the throat behind the nose.”

Currently, California is the only state with restrictions on added formaldehyde in fiberglass for office furniture systems. Many manufacturers are voluntarily moving towards formaldehyde free products. Wonderphyll from FlexForm Technologies offers a natural alternative with no added formaldehyde.

“In a report prepared for the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), scientists warned that people with higher exposure to formaldehyde were more at risk for certain types of rare cancers, including in the upper part of the throat behind the nose.”

Currently, California is the only state with restrictions on added formaldehyde in fiberglass for office furniture systems. Many manufacturers are voluntarily moving towards formaldehyde free products. Wonderphyll from FlexForm Technologies offers a natural alternative with no added formaldehyde.

When Wonderphyll was being developed at our plant in Elkhart, Indiana, there were two main goals in mind. The first goal was to provide a natural fiber based alternative to the commonly used fiberglass mat in office interior panel applications that has a ‘Class A’ fire rating. The second was to provide a green product that is as good or better in appearance and performance than the fiberglass mat alternative.

Why does the market need a natural fiber based alternative to fiberglass? Our process uses significantly less fossil fuel than the production of fiberglass. This is the main reason we consider Wonderphyll to be a green alternative to fiberglass. Some other reasons include the fact that nowhere in the process do we add formaldehyde. Also, our product has low VOC’s according to independent testing lab findings.

Wonderphyll is a sustainable product. It is a natural fiber composite made up of as much as %62 percent Rapidly Renewable Resource. The natural fiber used is an annually grown crop. Specifically we use bast fiber as our natural fiber. Depending on the blend ratio, we can produce a product with 30% post-consumer recycled content. Wonderphyll is recyclable at the end of life of the product.

FlexForm WonderPhyll is a fire retardant board for use as a substrate in Office Panel System partitions or Architectural Wall Systems. In this context, substrate refers to the inner material in the assembly that gives the panel its structure. The substrate is typically the material that is upholstered with a variety of surfaces, most typically fabric. Wonderphyll is Class A rated under the ASTM E84 standard for its fire retardant properties.

Fig 1. Typical Office Panel System. FlexForm panels are used as the substrates in the partitions. Also, pictured is the molded ceiling tile made with FlexForm material.

Wonderphyll is manufactured in Elkhart, Indiana. We use a blend of natural fiber and polymer fiber to create a natural fiber composite. The manufacturing is a two step process. The first step is to blend the natural fiber and the polymer fiber into a nonwoven mat. This part of the process is performed on an AirLay line. You can see this pictured below in figure 2a. Figure 2b shows how we process the material from the AirLay into a stiff, 2 dimensional sheet.